Spurs rookie guard Stephon Castle, meanwhile, continues to slide down the NBA Rookie Ladder after returning to the bench.
SAN ANTONIO — After coming in at No. 4 on the NBA Rookie Ladder a week ago, San Antonio Spurs‘ rookie Stephon Castle fell to No. 5 in the latest edition. The most likely reason: playing time.
Ahead of him are Washington’s Alex Sarr (No. 1), New Orleans’ Yves Missi (No. 2), Jaylen Wells (No. 3) and Zach Edey (No. 4), the latter two in Memphis.
“Castle averaged 25.1 minutes, seventh most among rookies, through December. But playing off the bench, he has dipped to 19.9 in January,” NBA.com posted. “He still is getting up shots, though, second (14.5) behind only Zaccharie Risacher (15.1) per 36 minutes.”
Castle certainly has slowed his on-court production, though it’s partly because the Spurs are a healthier team than they were a couple weeks ago. Before Wednesday night’s Milwaukee game, he averaged a season-low 19.7 minutes per game.
This has affected his stats, as he averages just 8.3 points per game, including 1.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 0.2 steals in four January matchups.
The Spurs have had the young Castle coming off the bench since Devin Vassell’s return, though he he did start versus the Bucks in place of the injured Jeremy Sochan on Wednesday. That adjustment might have impacted his rhythm, or he might have hit the proverbial “rookie wall.”
WEMBANYAMA AT NO. 4 IN WEST NBA ALL-STAR FAN VOTING
The NBA released the second fan returns for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama is one step closer to making the squad for the first time his career. He ranks fourth among the West’s frontcourt, having leapfrogged the Lakers’ Anthony Davis after coming in fifth last week.
Wemby has received 1,630,948 fan votes, placing him behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic (No. 1), Phoenix’s Kevin Durant (No. 2), and the Lakers’ LeBron James (No. 3) among frontcourt players.
Friday marks the next “3-for-1 Day,” when each vote by NBA ID members counts three times. The next fan voting update will be shared Jan. 16 before voting concludes Jan. 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
TNT will reveal the NBA All-Star Game starters the evening of Jan. 23, at 6 p.m. CT. The event, which for the first time will be feature four teams duking it out across a three-game mini tournament format, is set for Feb. 16 at Chase Center, the home of